


For you, I'd walk through Hell

by CaptainAdorkable99



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alice (All grown up), BAMF Wynonna Earp, Cool Aunt Nicole and Waverly, Dad!Doc, Dad!Dolls, Established Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Established Wynonna Earp and Doc Holliday, Established Xavier Dolls/Wynonna Earp, F/F, F/M, Mom!Nicole, Mom!Waverly, Multi, Older!Wynonna, The Curse lives on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-05-30 03:52:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15088412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAdorkable99/pseuds/CaptainAdorkable99
Summary: It's been 26 years since Alice was born and Wynonna had killed the widows. Sheriff Clootie was dead and gone, but more Revenants had popped up. One of them being a man named Zephyr, powerful and eccentric, Zephyr was in hell for more than 50 years. The last Earp to stop him is long gone, but that means Wynonna and crew don't have a clue what he's planning. Thankfully they have a journal from her many great's grandfather; Roger Earp. Too bad it's in a code that Waverly and Wynonna's son are slowly attempting to translate. All Wynonna wants is for Alice to come to Purgatory, join the family, crack a nice bottle of wine, and take a nap. Maybe not in that order. Too bad Alice turns 27 in three months and as soon as she does the Revenants are most definitely going to make a play to kill her, and they just might be able to do it. Man she's getting too old for this crap.





	1. Same old, Same goals

**Author's Note:**

> So, I thought of this because why not. It's good training for me to actually write things. I'm a law major at a university, so we shall see how often I post. I promise nothing.

            Wynonna Earp was tired.

Tired of all the stupid revenants. Tired of the stupid townspeople, and tired of this stupid curse. She was 54 and still fighting for the sake of Alice. Alice, whose 27th birthday was fast approaching, she had to kill all the revenants before then or Alice would be set to be the new heir, and all the nasties that Wynonna had already put down would rear their ugly heads once more. She knew that she would be too old to put them all down again. She didn’t want Alice to handle that, so she was left to carry on killing all the demons in the Ghost River Triangle. Thankfully, Doc and Dolls were still there to help. “Wynonna!”

Wynonna turned to see Waverly traipsing after her. “Hey, what’s up?” Wynonna greets her sister.

            Waverly and Nicole had gotten married, then had a daughter that they named Sky, a daughter whom was in her second year of med school despite only being 21. She had apparently inherited Waverly’s intelligence, and instead of being stuck fighting a curse, had been encouraged to go out and see the world. “I just heard from Aunt Gus, Alice wants to come see you for her 27th.”

“You know she can’t do that Waves,” Wynonna sighs, disappointment coloring her tone. “I know, but it makes sense since she’s only seen you a handful of times. You’re always out fighting revenants.”

“Yeah, for her.”

“Yes, and I know that, but she doesn’t know about the curse. You wanted to keep that from her for all these years, so all she does know is her mother only shows up once every year or so and then runs out again.” Wynonna frowns, "I know, I wish I could have raised her like Dolls and I raised Bass, but he’s not the heir." “I get it, and it’s not like Bass is a hundred percent human considering he inherited Dolls’ dragon mode;” Waverly alleviates the tension, bumping Wynonna’s hip with her own. “Yeah, I wish Alice had dragon mode;” Wynonna grumbles suppressing a grin. “Well I know Sky has gone to visit her once or twice when she gets off days. I’ve told her to stay away from here considering everything that’s happened lately.”

“You mean Zephyr, right?” Wynonna scowls, remembering the eccentric revenant with the silver hair and scar through his left eye. “Yeah, what’s our game plan?”

“You said you found our Great Grandfather’s journal right?” Wynonna says, peering sideways at her sister. “Yeah, it’s with Bass right now.”

“Well, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I guess we should get reading.” Wynonna groans turning around and walking in the direction of the police station. She couldn’t believe that she had to read some old dead guys journal, but Roger Earp was the only Earp to put Zephyr down, and if reading is what it took to protect Alice, she’d do it in a heartbeat.

            The police station was buzzing with activity. About ten years ago Dolls reformed Black Badge in the Ghost River Triangle, Jeremy running the science side of it. The agency had grown significantly under Doll’s careful watch, the rivalry between the agency and the brotherhood had grown along with it. Wynonna had married neither Dolls nor Doc, preferring instead to maintain her options. That, and she wasn’t one for marriage to begin with. Unspoken partnership being preferable. Bass was sitting at a desk in the corner along with Reiner, pouring over the worn leather bound book that was her Great Grandfather’s journal.

            “You’re just like my mom, always reading;” Reiner chuckles peering over Bass’s shoulder. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Waverly admonished her son. “I mean, it’s not bad. It’s just that I want Bass to get up and go hunting with me, we are Black Badge trainees after all.”

“Since when?” Waverly says pointedly, Reiner shrinks back a bit sheepish. “Well I figured since we were born into it.” Waverly frowns, “That’s not how this works. You know we never expect you guys to help us fight this. That’s not your job.”

“Exactly, the only one that was born into this was Alice and we sent her away for her safety. Bass, I don’t want you anywhere near this either, if it weren’t for your abilities I would have stopped you from joining a long time ago.” Wynonna tacks on watching her son sigh. “Come on Mom, we both know Dad has trained me for this.”

“Because you can breathe fire,” Wynonna groans. “And because I’ve earned my place here" Her son argues, "I want to help fight this and I’m going to. I know you say it’s not our job, but I’m twenty years old and I chose this;” Bass retorts returning his mother’s glare. “I know, I know; I just wish you could have lived a normal life like Alice.”

“You want him to have been raised by Aunt Gus?” Reiner quips. “No,” Wynonna snaps, “I just wish the revenants would leave us alone.” Bass rises from his seat and approaches his mother, “And they will soon. With our help. After all, we’re the future of this fight, with or without your permission.”

            After their tense words, Bass and Waverly returned to the journal, still searching for Zephyr’s plans. Meanwhile, Wynonna decides to throw her nephew a bone and take him along on a patrol with two other recruits. Referred to as the twins, Martin and Marian's family had moved when the they were toddlers. Black Badge had helped them with a small possession problem. Since then the twins had idolized Black Badge and endeavored to join, much to their parent’s protestation. “Put a cap over your head Rein, your red hair is going to give us away;” Wynonna teases mussing his hair in the process. “Come on Aunt Wynn, I just fixed it” Reiner grumbles, batting his her hand away. “Are you sure you want to fight demons kid? You’re going to have to deal with a lot more than messed up hair.”

Reiner snorts at his Aunts words, “They won’t lay a finger on me, not when I have this.” Reiner pulls a gun out of his waistband proudly. “That’s not going to kill them you know,” Marian says. Reiner disregards the girl's warning, “It’ll hurt though, and they’re special Black Badge bullets from Uncle Dolls.”

“Whatever you say Reiner, just don’t get hurt. If you do your mother with kill me;” Wynonna says interrupting Martin’s retort.

            They arrived at the old trailer park where Bobo used to live. Revenants crowd around fires or poker games as they walk by mostly ignored. “Ah, welcome! Look boys, the heir is here!” Zephyr, a tall man with brilliant blue eyes and grey hair, greets them. He's sporting steampunk goggles, and a top hat to match his maroon coat, and fingerless gloves. “Sup, Water bottle. I was wondering if you’d be willing to tell us your plans.” Wynonna quips.

“Oh, and why would I do that?” Zephyr says with a benign smile. “You know how this goes, you do something annoying, I stop you, and you go to hell;” Wynonna snarks. “I think that sounds a bit repetitive. Maybe I want to change it up a bit.” Zephyr exclaims, his grin widening. “Besides, you’re getting old. I heard that it’s about time you laid down old peacemaker, made room for a new heir. Someone by the name of Alice I believe, if you do step aside I promise to kill you all quickly.” Wynonna scowls, springing forward and grabbing Zephyr by his coat, she slams him into the nearest trailer before raising peacemaker to his chest. “You really shouldn’t threaten a mother.”

“Not so fast, look behind you.” Zephyr smirks. Wynonna turns to see the Revenants watching them from their poker games and fires. “If you kill me, they kill you. And even if you somehow manage to escape, they most definitely will have killed at least one of you, and I don’t think you want to deliver that news.”

Wynonna releases Zephyr, grumbling under her breath. “I think it’s time you four leave,” Zephyr dismisses them waving his hand for one of the revenants to escort them out. That’s when all hell breaks loose. The revenant approaches, eyes blazing causing Reiner to jump, pulling his gun. Before Wynonna can stop him, he takes aim and shoots the man right between the eyes.

            The occupants of the trailer park are outraged, charging forward they instantly attack falling on Reiner first. Upon contact they begin to beat him into submission,some of them pulling various knives and weaponry. Martin and Marian pull out their own respective guns and begin shooting at those attacking Reiner. Unlike peacemaker, their bullets only stun the target for two hours. The revenant that Reiner hit lies comatose on the ground as the others swarm over his attacker. Wynonna begins shooting the crowd too but as each revenant turns to ash another fills their place. “Zephyr, if that boy dies I will kill all of you right here right now," Wynonna threatens. Zephyr relents ordering his fellow demons to stop. The revenants cease movement, turning to glare at her instead. Her stomach churns as she starts to wonder whether they were going to ignore Zephyr’s orders. “Let her go, I need her for our plans after all. Until then, you’re safe Wynonna, although I suggest that you refrain from bringing anymore kids here. You don’t want anything to happen to them.” Zephyr says calmly, gesturing for the Revenants to disperse. Marian and Martin grab Reiner and hold his unconscious form between them. “Come on guys, let’s get him to the hospital.” Wynonna says, herding them to the exit.

“Goodbye Earp, I hope to meet your daughter soon.” Zephyr calls after her.


	2. The waiting game

Alice had lived her life waiting.  
Waiting for her mother to allow her to come home. Waiting to see her mom more than once a year. Waiting to truly be part of the family. So, of course, she ends up in a career field that consists of waiting, or at least part of it. Stake outs were the worst. She hated sitting still and hoping something interesting would happen. Most of the time, nothing did. She sat and watched Joe, Manny, Luke, or whatever the fuck their name was, grab pizza or beer for the site’s occupants while she sat cramped up in a car. Right now, she was watching a stocky boy named Billy leave with a bag of flour and rubbing a knot out of her knee. Wait, bag of flour? Who carries a bag of flour out of an apartment building at 2 AM? “Gotcha,” Alice smirks, slipping out of the cruiser and leaving her dozing partner behind. Bixby, the living stereotype of a cop, was going to slow her down anyway.  
She tails Billy for several blocks before he comes to a stop outside of a door and knocks. It opens. “Hey, I got the stuff.” She hears him say, passing the bag through the doorway. “Freeze, NYPD!” She shouts as she emerges from her hiding spot. Billy holds up both hands, dropping the bag of white powder. “What’s in the bag Billy?”  
“Flour,” he replies quickly. “Yeah, sure likely story. Sir, I’m gonna need you to step out of the doorway;” She says to the prospective buyer. She see’s a big boot step out of the doorway, and as the rest of him appears she knows she screwed up big time. “Shit,” she mutters to herself. The owner of the big boot was Big Randy, also known as the owner of Randy’s bakery. If anyone was ordering flour at 2 AM it would be him. “It really is flour, isn’t it?” She groans, dropping her gun. Randy nods. “I ran out of flour for tomorrow morning’s batch. I needed an emergency delivery, and Billy here was doing me a favor.” Alice scowls, man her fellow detectives were going to give her shit for this later. “Sorry to bother, enjoy your flour.” She murmurs before turning around and making a hasty exit.

Alice awoke the next day to fifteen texts of flour pics from her coworkers, and an email alert in all caps from her boss. Quickly silencing her phone she crawls out of bed and towards the bathroom. Briskly brushing her teeth and hair, she pulls on the first things she touches in her closet and rushes out the door to meet her cousin for lunch.  
Alice had agreed to meet her cousin at a small coffee shop in SoHo for some food, and caffeine. Sitting at a table in the corner, she prepares to wait, but not even two minutes later her cousin was walking through the door. All long blonde hair, and tall her cousin, Sky, was the exact opposite of the girl trailing behind her. Where Sky was all smiles and warm brown eyes, her girlfriend Artemis was olive skin and piercing black irises. She always gave Alice a feeling that she wasn’t entirely human. “Hey Haught stuff,” Alice calls out to Sky. She approaches and gives Alice a hug before settling down on a chair. Artemis takes a seat beside her, their shoulders brushing. “Hey, how was your stake out last night?” Sky inquires, she's the only one of the family that Alice talks to on a daily. The rest of them being in Purgatory, a place that Alice was prohibited from entering. She had tried a couple times but her Mom always yelled at her and her Dad was of the same mind most of the time. At least she saw her Dad sometimes, he pulled up in an old fashioned car asking if she wanted shooting lessons. Good old Dad. Alice recounts the events of the stake out to Sky, who listens intently. Artemis smirks at her from beside Sky unnerving her ever so slightly, but she continues her story regardless, pulling out her phone to show her cousin the flour pics. “That’s not too bad, it could be worse;” Sky says optimistically, reminding Alice distinctly of Aunt Waverly.

After ordering their coffee, Artemis taking hers with a mountain of sugar as opposed to Sky’s black, Sky and Alice continue to catch up. Discussing things such as Sky’s job at the hospital and Artemis’s trust fund, the conversation finally lands on Alice’s birthday. “You’re almost 27, you’ll be able to come to Purgatory soon if our parents finish things up in time;” Sky exclaims between sips of coffee. “That’s six months away,” Alice scoffs doubting her Mom will hold up her end of the deal. “It’ll happen, don’t worry about it. Aunt Wynonna will pull through;” Sky says with certainty. She opens her mouth to continue, but she’s interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Swiping to unlock it, she answers. “Hey Mom.” Alice hears a stream of unintelligible words pour out of the phone after Sky's greeting. “He’s what?” Sky exclaims, paling. “I’ll get a plane out, don’t worry. What, that’ll take too long?” Sky says clearly distressed. “You can take my car,” Artemis offers, to which Sky gives her a grateful smile. Alice watches as Sky and Artemis practically gravitate towards each other as Aunt Waverly continues to speak through the phone. Artemis begins rubbing reassuring circles into Sky’s shoulder. “Deep breaths;” She says absent minded, as if it was second nature. Sky inhales and exhales deeply, collecting her thoughts before cutting into Aunt Waverly’s stream of consciousness. “I’ll be there by tonight, no I’m not at home I’m with Alice. No, she can’t hear you. Yes, she might end up coming, I can’t stop her if she tries. She deserves to see Reiner. Just run interference if you have to.” Sky sighs as her mom responds. “No, I’m not bringing Artemis she’s busy.” Artemis face turns into a pout at Sky’s words, peeking Alice’s interest. "Has Artemis not been to Purgatory either?" Alice wonders to herself. “Bye Mom,” Sky says with finality before hanging up the phone. Alice stares at her cousin, waiting to be filled in. With a deep sigh, Sky explains the situation.

Reiner has been admitted to the hospital in Purgatory and is in critical condition. Someone beat him up and something got infected. Alice was allowed to tag along to Purgatory if she wanted. Artemis chimes in to ask if Sky wants her to drive, but Sky shoots her down saying something about how Purgatory wouldn’t be a good idea for her. Artemis scowls but still offers up her car. Sky thanks her with a peck on the cheek. “I should go pack, I’ll send you Art’s address. Meet us there in two hours?”  
“Where does Artemis live?” Alice asks, curious. “No time to explain, I’ll send it to you. You’ll see;” Sky replies grabbing Artemis’s hand and leading her out of the coffee shop. Alice watches them begin to argue through the window before they vanish into the crowd. Taking one last sip from her coffee, Alice files their quick exit away for later, and starts listing what she needs to pack. She’s going to Purgatory.


	3. No one said it'd be easy

Chapter 3

Artemis owns a corvette.  
How a 20 year old could afford a corvette, Alice has no idea, but she likes it. The car practically glides along the roads, it's speeds exceeding that of her usual mode of transportation. Or at least it would if Sky was willing to speed. “Sky, just go a little faster. There are no cops here, besides I can flash a badge and most likely get us out of a ticket;” Alice attempts to persuade her cousin. Damn, the car had seat warmers. Very nice during the slightly chilly autumn weather. “I’m not driving like a demon Al,” Sky replies in an even tone, slowing to the required 35 mph. “There’s no way Artemis goes this slow;” Alice grumbles more to herself than to Sky. “Just because she drives like a maniac does not mean that I have to;” Sky retorts. “How fast does she go to deserve the title maniac? What? Five miles over the speed limit?” Alice teases her cousin. “More like twenty, at least. I’m surprised she’s only received one speeding ticket in her lifetime.”  
“Eh, she’s only twenty. She has some time to go, she’ll receive another one.” Sky purses her lips at her cousin’s reply, she looks worried. “Hey, she’s probably safe if she feels comfortable driving that way.”  
“Aren’t you a cop?” Sky snorts. “Eh, speed limit is annoying, and it’s not like I’m a traffic cop.” Sky lets the topic lie in favor of beginning a line of questioning for her cousin.   
“You’re going to Purgatory for the first time since you were born. Are you ready?” She inquires, Alice shrugs. “I don’t know, I guess we’ll see. How bad can it be? It probably won’t be nearly as surprising as your girlfriend’s house. Is she a trust fund baby or something? Is there a last name I don’t know about? There has to be if she can afford a penthouse in downtown Manhattan. I refuse to believe she’s succeeded that much more than us in her short lifetime.”  
“Hey! She’s actually really smart;” Sky defends her girlfriend. “Then why hasn’t she been introduced to the parents yet?”  
Sky’s face falls, gnawing at her cheek, she contemplates her response. “It’s just not a good idea.” Alice shakes her head, “Not good enough. You two are basically engaged, you’ve been dating for a year and a half now. There’s no way that you two aren't going for the long haul, so why not introduce her to Aunt Nicole and Waverly? They’re the nicest people I’ve ever met.”  
“It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand.” Sky groans, hating the conversation her cousin had brought about. It was the same argument she had with Artemis while she was packing. She hated leaving Artemis on a tense note, but she had to go help her brother. “It’s not like your girlfriend is a monster or something;” Alice breaks into her reverie. Sky’s expression changes so quickly that Alice doesn’t quite see it, but she looks worried. “She’s not a monster right?” Alice smirks. “Do you want to drive?” Sky changes the subject. Alice grins, “Drive? This car? I thought you’d never ask.” Sky stops the car and switches seats with Alice pleased with her choice in diversion. Revving the engine Alice shifts into drive and rockets off towards Purgatory.

  They arrive at the outskirts of town around dusk. Spotting a bus broken down off to the side of the road, Alice feels a spike of relief that she wasn't one of the bus passengers. She’d hate to show up here on a bus of all things. If Sky didn’t marry her super rich girlfriend, Alice just might. The red corvette proves quite conspicuous pulling through the small streets of Purgatory. It was more western than Alice had pictured. “Wow, they’re really going for that O.K Corral thing, aren’t they?” She mutters to Sky. “It’s small, but its home." Her cousin shrugs, "Take a right here, the hospital’s not too far from everything.”  
“I can imagine,” Alice quips, revving the engine once more and zooming towards the hospital.

The fluorescent lighting reflects off the scuffed linoleum as the sound of beeping and radio chatter fills Alice’s ears. She wonders if she was born in this hospital. “Sky!” Aunt Nicole calls from the other side of the lobby. Fast approaching her daughter, Aunt Nicole's red hair is now streaked with strands of grey. She had wrinkles near her eyes from smiling, and she bore the jacket of the town’s police force. Alice had only seen Aunt’s Waverly and Nicole on holidays, but they were always smiling. “Hey, Aunt Nicole;” She waves from behind Sky. “Oh yeah, Waves said Sky was bringing you along;” Nicole exclaims, sounding a little less than thrilled despite her attempts at a smile. Alice attributes her lukewarm welcome to Reiner’s injury. “Is my mom here?” She asks, hoping to break the awkwardness.  
“Oh, she’s finishing something up at the office with Dolls, she’ll be here soon. If she seems harsh it’s probably because she was there when Reiner got hurt;” Nicole informs them before beckoning for them to follow. “Reiner’s in the wing to the right. Fifth door, I’ll walk you over.”

Alice follows her aunt down the corridor and through the doorway where she sees Reiner, soaked in sweat, shaking on the bed as nurses crowd around him. “Fuck, it’s so cold in here;” Alice hears him say before the nurses inject him with some sort of anesthetic. “He’ll be here for a little while until they figure out what type of toxin is in his blood stream;” Aunt Nicole grimaces. “I’ll look into it. Is Aunt Wynonna here to talk to Alice? I think we should fill her in.” Sky says, walking forward to feel her brother's cheek.  
“That’s my decision;” Wynonna fumes. Turning, Alice spots her mother leaning against the doorframe eyes firmly set on her. “Hey, Mom;” Alice greets, faking a smile. “You aren’t supposed to be here, I already talked to Waverly. She shouldn’t have let you bring her Sky.”  
“Well, she was there when I got the call and if Reiner’s facing death I thought she should see him one last time”  
“He’s not going to die;” Nicole says adamantly. “Mama, I get that he’s your son, and my brother, but I have to examine the toxin before we know that for sure. We might not have a cure, and these doctors won’t know what it is.”  
“Fine medical care you’ve got here;” Alice sneers, not too fond of being ignored. “We’ll figure it out, we always do;” her Mom says with determination. “Alice, you should leave. It’s not safe for you here.”  
“I’m all grown up Mom, I can take care of myself. Besides, who’s going to attack an NYPD Detective?”  
“NYPD Detective?” Her mom's eyes widen in confusion. Alice groans, of course her Mom didn’t read her email pertaining to her promotion. “Yeah, NYPD. The police force that is the basis of multiple TV shows. Not some obscure agency that belongs to conspiracy theorists;” Alice snaps; “So I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thanks.”  
“You’ll understand when you’re old enough;” her Mom scoffs, dismissing her daughter’s frustration. “When will I be old enough? I’m twenty six Mom. I’m well over drinking age, and I pay bills. I’ve been moved out since I was born, and I have a job. I’ve been old enough for so long at this point it feels like you just don’t want to deal with me.”  
“That’s not –“her Mom starts, but Alice is on a roll and wasn’t about to stop now. “You gave me away as soon as I was born, but you couldn’t even do that right. You decided that I would live with Aunt Gus instead, but did you do the same to Bass? No! Why is that?”  
“Alice – “Her mom attempts to break in, but twenty six years of insecurity keeps her going. “I guess you figured I wasn’t worth it a long time ago, and I was just too stupid to get the message. Thanks a lot Mom. I get it now. I’ll see you later Sky;” She finishes lamely stalking out of the hospital room.

  
  Sky leaves to work on the toxin screening immediately, hoping to save her brother. Aunt Wynonna and her walking back to the police station after Alice’s outburst being one of the most awkward moments of her life. Alice had decided to stay at the Haught-Earp residence as opposed to taking a trip to see the Homestead. Waverly appears soon enough to talk to Wynonna while her daughter works on the cure, Nicole having decided to stay with Reiner. “I don’t get it, I’m only trying to protect her. Why is she being so frustrating;” Wynonna grumbles to her sister. Waverly pats her on the shoulder reassuringly. “That’s because we haven’t told her what any of this is about." Wynonna opens her mouth to retort but Waverly cuts in, "It was your decision and a good call at the time. She was going to be a target otherwise. Better that she doesn’t know so she’d have even less of a relation to the curse.”  
“You told Sky and Reiner;” Wynonna mumbles. “That’s because they live here and need to be prepared. Besides, they weren’t necessarily targets since they aren’t really Earps.”  
“Waves, not this again. You’re an Earp.” Waverly rolls her eyes, “I know, but you know what I mean. They aren’t the heir. They don’t have to deal with it, they can just get up and walk away if they wanted to. Actually I’d prefer it, but it's different for Alice. If Alice finds out, she has no more option but to stay and fight.”  
“If I die- “Wynonna starts, but Waverly interrupts her. “You aren’t going to die anytime soon. Don’t worry so much, we’ll beat Zephyr and Alice will be able to come home permanently. You only have Zephyr and his crew left anyway.”

  While Wynonna and Waverly have their heart to heart, Sky discovers that the toxin is an old one. It belonged to that of a gorgon, it's main purpose being to slowly turn the victim to stone. Reiner was cold because his blood was slowly freezing. Sky calls her Ma and give her instructions to request that Reiner's room be turned above 98 degrees Fahrenheit to hopefully slow the process. “I wish you could be here Art;” She murmurs to herself as she tests another vial of attempted anti-toxin. The sound of her phone ringing shatters her concentration. Placing the vial back down her answers the call. “Hey,” She says simply. “Hey there, when are you coming back? I miss you.” Her girlfriend's familiar voice plays over the line. “I don’t know, this is a difficult toxin.”  
“Anything I can help with? You know I have a lot of skills and,” Artemis pauses, “…experience?” Sky sighs, there’s nothing she’d like more than for her girlfriend to come meet the family, but while appealing, it’d also be a nightmare. “I’m good Art, although I could use a vial of your blood.” Sky hears a sigh, “When do you need it by?” Sky cracks a smile before responding. “Thank you, I miss you too. Does tomorrow work?”  
“Yeah, no problem. Although if you want it that fast I may need to bring it myself. Where should I meet you? I know you don’t want me anywhere near Purgatory.”  
“You know why;” Sky groans, tired of having the same discussion over and over. “I can be discreet. No one has to know;” Artemis argues, still hoping to stay and meet Sky’s parents. “No, Art. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got shot.”  
“It’s not like they’ll kill me;” her girlfriend retorts. “You don’t know that Art, we don’t know if you’ll even be able to leave if you get within the boundaries.”  
“Well I must have left once.”  
“Please, just meet me outside the boundary line. I’ll bring you some ice cream, I’ll bring your car back,I know we took your favorite; just please don’t enter Purgatory;” Sky begs.  
Artemis sighs once more, clearly disappointed, but concedes. “Fine, I’ll drop it off tomorrow morning. Sleep well, but right now I have to go. I’ll see you later, yeah?”  
“Yeah, I love you.” Sky exclaims, hoping she’ll hear it back even if Artemis is mad at her. The sound of the call ending hits her instead. Frustration floods her brain for a second, but before she can get too mad her anger is interrupted by the buzz of her phone.  
“Love you, too. Be safe.” Sky smiles, relieved.


	4. You win some, you almost lose some

**Chapter 4**

**You win some, you almost lose someone**

            Wynonna Earp woke to the sound of a rooster.

An actual god forsaken rooster. Man she hated this town sometimes, a lot, maybe always. Zephyr was still in his corner, plotting and scheming, meanwhile Reiner was fighting for his life against gorgon venom. Who the hell had gorgon venom anyway? Weren’t they dead by now? Dolls was passed out beside her, and Doc was out with Alice since they had planned on shooting practice last night over the phone. Wynonna couldn’t say that she wasn’t jealous of Doc’s relationship with their daughter. They always seemed to like each other, there wasn’t nearly as many fights as there were between her and Alice. Stupid curse. A knock on the door pulls her from the depths of her mind, “Come in.” The door swings open to reveal her son, the spitting image of Dolls. “Hey, Sky was looking for Alice. Something about meeting Artemis to get something for the cure.”

“I’ll meet her;” Wynonna offers. “I don’t know, Sky sounded pretty insistent that it was Alice that met her.”

“Yeah, well Alice is out with Doc, and they usually can’t hear their cellphones over the gunshots.” Wynonna replies pushing herself up out of bed. “I’ll be there in fifteen. Where are we meeting?”

“Outskirts of town,” Bass informs her. Wynonna groans, “Can she meet me at a coffee shop instead?”

“Sky said it has to be the outskirts, maybe Artemis doesn’t have a lot of time.” Wynonna relents, “Fine, outskirts it is. But make it twenty minutes, I need coffee.”

            Sky picked up the phone to Bass on the other end. Horrified that it was Aunt Wynonna that was going to meet Artemis, she frantically began to call Alice, repeatedly. “Pick up, pick up, pick up;” she murmured under breath with each ring. Voicemail. Sky represses the urge to scream and calls Artemis instead. “Hey Sky, what’s up?” Her girlfriend answers, she can hear the sound of the car engine as she speeds to Purgatory. “My Aunt is coming to meet you,” Sky explained quickly. “I thought you were coming to meet me, with ice cream?” Artemis replies irritation clear in her tone. “I was, but I’m busy with the cure and I needed someone else to do it so I tried to get Alice to, but she wasn’t picking up so I asked Bass, but he asked his mom and now Aunt Wynonna is going to be at the boundary line to meet you.”

“And this is a problem because?”

“Artemis, she might kill you;” Sky snaps, annoyed with her girlfriend’s disregard for safety. “It’s not that noticeable Sky, unless she points her gun at random people for fun I really doubt she’ll even know. Maybe if she doesn’t notice I can finally come and meet the family.”

“Not now, babe. I really need you to turn around, bring the medicine some other time.”

“You mean my blood? Yeah, I don’t think it keeps that long.” Artemis points out. “Fine, just bring it to my Aunt;” Sky consents, albeit unwillingly. “Just be careful,” She pleads. “You know I will,” Artemis answers before hanging up.

            Wynonna arrived at the edge of the border with five minutes to spare, not that she needed them since the girl named Artemis was already there. Wearing a worn leather jacket, and studded combat boots, the girl was casually leaning against a Porsche. “I wish I had a Porsche,” Wynonna utters under her breath. She sees the girl crack a smile, almost like she had heard her. “You’re Artemis I’m guessing,” Wynonna assumes. “That’s what my ID says,” the raven haired girl replies with a confident smirk. “My niece did good if you’re driving around a Porsche;” Wynonna comments. Artemis laughs, “Yeah well, she has my corvette.” Wynonna rolls her eyes, of course the fancy car Alice arrived in belongs to Sky’s girlfriend. She figured a cop couldn’t afford that expensive of a car. “Where’s the special ingredient that Sky needs?’

Artemis offers up a paper bag. “Be careful, it’s a glass vial;” Artemis warns. Wynonna takes it and looks inside. “It’s a tube of… is that blood?”

“I don’t know, I’m just the messenger;” Artemis answers evenly. Wynonna gets the sneaking suspicion that the girl knows fully well what’s within the vial, but just isn’t saying. “Alright, cool. Thanks. I’ll hand it over to Sky. Are you sure you don’t want to hand it to her yourself?”

“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want me too,” Artemis states not too happy with Sky’s instructions. “Keep her safe will you?”

“Yeah, of course;” Wynonna assures her niece’s girlfriend. “Good, I don’t want her hurt. I hate not being around to protect her.” Artemis forces a grin, “Maybe I’ll see you some other time. I have to go now though, Sky wouldn’t want me sticking around.”

“Problems between you two?” Wynonna inquires. “Yeah, something like that;” Artemis mutters before sliding back into her car and swiftly pulling out. “Man, I wish I had that car.” Wynonna murmurs, heading back to her truck.

            Wynonna drives back to the police station where she finds Sky in a lab coat, hair pulled back into a messy bun as she hovers over a Bunsen burner. “Hey little Wayhaught, got your weird test tube;” Wynonna says placing it on the counter. “Thanks, can you pass me the catalyst?” Sky responds absentmindedly pointing somewhere behind Wynonna. “The green stuff?” Wynonna guesses, holding it up. “Yeah,” Sky confirms. Wynonna hands her the bottle and watches her niece pour the contents in. The mixture begins to bubble. “It’s not going to explode, is it?” Wynonna says as a weak attempt at a joke. “Have I ever made anything explode?” Sky replies, still focused on her beakers. Wynonna took that as the cue to leave her niece alone and started to walk out but her niece stopped her. “So, you met Artemis?”

Wynonna raised an eyebrow, “Yeah. She seems to have a lot of money, she arrived here in a Porsche.”

“Yeah, she has a trust fund. What did you think of her?”

“She seems nice, a little on the mysterious side, but I trust your judgement.” Wynonna replies giving her niece a genuine smile. “I’m sorry about your brother by the way, I didn’t mean for him to get hurt.”

“It’s okay, it happens. The things you guys are fighting, someone’s bound to get hurt at some point. It doesn’t matter anyway, I found an antidote.” Sky adds the vial from the paper bag to the beaker before picking it up in oven mitts and shaking it vigorously. “Give this to him, he’ll be good as new by tomorrow.” Sky exclaims, flashing a smile of her own. Wynonna takes the vial and puts it in her jacket pocket.

            While Wynonna runs off to give her nephew the antidote, shit was going down at the Revenant camp.

            The small wooden house had cracked windows, and splintered floors, but it was familiar. It was a place that Zephyr had been before he had been sent down to hell by Roger Earp. Pulling a small crystal ball out of his pocket, he watched the mist within swirl about. “Where is the leader?” He implored it, hoping that the ball would show him the figure of his plans. The mist swirled into the shape of a police badge before vanishing. “The police?” Zephyr murmured, surprised. “What do the police have to do with the missing queen of hell?” The mist didn’t answer, instead remaining stagnant. “So be it, I guess we can take a small visit to the police station.”

            Sky was cleaning up the lab with Bass. The counters were properly wiped, she had pocketed the vial with the remnants of Artemis’s blood, and she had the car keys for the corvette in hand. Alice was supposed to meet her soon so they could go back to New York City. She was hoping to see Artemis soon and make it up to her. She knows she wasn’t exactly being the best girlfriend at the moment. She could only hope that Artemis would forgive her as easily as she had in the past. “So you and that Artemis girl have been dating for a year now, right?” Bass asks, his head stuck in a cabinet. “A year and a half actually,” Artemis corrects. “And she hasn’t met your mom’s yet?”

“It’s complicated,” Sky replies, defensive. “I think that if you love someone enough it doesn’t matter how complicated it is, if you love them, and your parents are accepting, they should meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.” Bass responds evenly. Sky sighs, he has a point, but she’s not willing to risk Artemis’s life over it. “I have to go, I want to make it back to the city before Artemis goes to sleep,” she lies beginning to walk out of the room. Her exit is impeded, however, by six large men all with glowing red eyes. Revenants. “Hi there,” a man with silvery grey hair and a scar greets them offering up a well manicured hand. “The name’s Zephyr, is Wynonna Earp here by any chance? I’d like to speak with her about something my friend said she has,” Zephyr waves a small glowing ball with mist within it. “Your friend is a glass ball?” Sky exclaims, confused. “Why yes, it’s a very smart friend too. Now where is she?” The ball flashes blue two times, directing Zephyr’s eyes to the mist within. His expression changes to one of surprise. “The blonde?” The sphere flashes green. “Very well, men grab the blonde. She’s the key to our queen.” Bass takes a step forward, eyes glowing orange. “Not a step closer or I’ll turn you to ash.” Zephyr laughs, “Move away, no use playing the little dragon that could. The grownups are talking. Miss, what’s your name?”

“Sky,” Sky answers stiffly. “Oh! As in Sky Haught-Earp? Reiner’s sister? What a shame what happened to him;” Zephyr exclaims, a menacing edge creeping into his tone. “Yeah, it is a shame. But at least I have an even better excuse to bash your face in,” Waverly says from beside the large group of revenants. Nicole stands behind her, gun raised. “Oh, it appears part of the cavalry has arrived;” Zephyr smirks, unimpressed. “Not just part,” Wynonna says from behind Sky and Bass. She approaches the group with peacemaker raised and glowing. “Back away from my son and niece like a good little demon.” Zephyr scowls, but relents. “Fine, you get a reprieve, but I suggest you don’t stay in our way for long lest something terrible occur to your dear nephew. I can promise your niece’s safe return once I get what I want, but I’m afraid that your nephew’s condition requires a much more delicate touch.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but he’s already better. Sky’s antidote worked, which I have to talk to you about by the way. That worked faster than any antidote we’ve ever used and I have a feeling it has to do with that special ingredient.” Sky flushes under her aunt’s suspicious eye, but nods nonetheless. Wynonna returns her gaze to the Revenants. “Get out of my station before I start shooting.” Zephyr and his men quickly disperse, knowing when to back down.

            They all return to the homestead where Wynonna questions them about why Zephyr wanted Sky.

            “Why would he want Sky?” Waverly exclaims, saying what everyone else was wondering. They had sent Alice to stay with Reiner so they could all talk without the possibility of her bursting in. “This stupid journal should tell us something, but no one can read it!” Wynonna gripes, waving the leather bound book about. “Why can’t you read it?” Sky inquires. “It’s in a language we all don’t understand,” Bass explains taking the book from his mom and handing it to Sky. Sky flips through it, recognizing some of the symbols. “It’s a cypher,” Sky concludes, she had seen one person use these symbols before and she dreaded what it meant. “I think I know someone who can decipher this, but I’d have to give this to them or send them pictures.”

“Yeah, whatever get’s us closer to stopping Zephyr. I want this stupid curse to be done with.” Wynonna gives Sky the book.


	5. Goodbye Sky

Artemis had been working on translations for Sky all day.

She was tired, her eyes burned, and she was really hoping that Sky could have translated some of these herself. It’s not as if Artemis hadn’t taught her some of the language anyway. It was a language that she had naturally known since the beginning of her existence. Why Sky couldn’t help from New York, she had no idea. Artemis’s pouting is interrupted by the ringing of her phone, Sky’s ringtone. “Yes?” She sighs upon answering. “I’m coming home soon, I promise;” Sky assures her. Sky’s image is one of bright light, and her cousin Bass working in the background reading the translated versions of the diary that Artemis had sent over. “Why is this so important? It’s just talking about his patrols of Purgatory. It mentions that guy Zephyr a total of three times, and it’s all about his eccentricity. How is any of this supposed to help? And why do you have to be involved? I thought you gave up on that part of your life?”

Sky sighs at her girlfriend’s inquiries. She hasn’t told her the whole truth, she didn’t know how to tell her that Zephyr was after her and had his revenants blocking all the exits and entrances throughout the town. “- Come home, I have enchiladas and pasta ready for you. We can go out and see that movie you wanted to go see.” Artemis continues derailing Sky’s train of thought. “You know I’d love to, but I have to stay here and help my family.” Artemis groans, “I know. I get it, if I had a family I’d probably do the same. I’m just worried, what if one of those revenants hurts you like they did your brother?”

“I have Bass with me,” Sky reminds her girlfriend, turning the camera to show Bass behind her. “Hey Artemis,” Bass waves into the camera, Sky turns it back to her. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. As soon as I get back home we can pull up Netflix and,” Sky leans in, “I’ll wear that outfit I bought for Christmas.” She whispers into the phone. Bass’s eyes widen as he looks around the room, trying to find anything else to concentrate on other than his cousin hinting about sex.

            Bass refocuses when Sky leans away from the phone, “The faster you finish the translation the sooner I can come home,” she postulates suppressing her urge to wink. “Alright, I’m on it. Stay safe Sky, if you don’t I will come down there myself, whether you like it or not.”

           

            Alice was pissed. She knew that everyone was hiding something from her. Every time she entered a room hushed voices ceased, and people looked at her. It’s as if the entire family was aware of something she wasn’t, even her dad. Doc Holliday had taken to fatherhood well despite some initial doubts. Alice was a chip off the old block, taking to quickdraw and improving her aim exponentially since she was up to his knee. He drove out to see her as often as he could when Wynonna had relented that they should be able to visit Alice when Bobo and his lot vanished. “I don’t get it, what am I not allowed to know? Why is it a big deal?” Alice grouses, taking a shot at one of the bottles lining the fence. It shatters, falling into the grass. “Well, you see, your Mom is just protecting you, just as much as I am. I know it’s frustrating, especially for people like us, but you must be patient. If you rush you’re shot you’re more likely to miss.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it Dad, you never miss; But I get your point.”  

 

            Alice arrived at the police station hoping to talk to her mom and apologize. Her father had explained that there were a group of people that had threatened her life and they were still out there. She wishes that her Mom had just said that, it would’ve caused less grief. Walking over to the front door, she immediately notices that it’s off it’s hinges. Her training takes over from there, unholstering her gun she rounds the building’s perimeter before slipping through a window into an unoccupied room. Clearing each room one by one, she notices broken chairs, and Sky’s jacket still on the counter. Rounding the counter she finds her half brother Bass passed out and bleeding. She quickly calls her Dad. “Dad,” she says panicked when he answers his phone. “What’s the problem darling?”

“It’s Bass, he’s out unconscious and Sky’s missing. Her jacket’s here and so are Artemis’s keys, but she’s not here. Someone kicked the door down, I think someone got her.”

“Alice, listen to me carefully.” Doc replies in a tone Alice has never heard before. Her Dad can sound scary? “I need you to get out of there, let Black Badge deal with this.”

“I don’t see how some mythical conspiracy police force is going to handle this,” she snaps, searching the room for further clues. “They’re not made up, and the people you’re dealing with aren’t like who you deal with in the city. Just get out of there before they see you.”

“Dad, I can handle myself;” Alice says dismissively. “Alice Michelle Earp, get out of there now or so help me;” Doc practically snarls. “Alright, alright I’m leaving. Wherever they took Sky, they didn’t leave any clues.” Alice comments, picking up a random employee badge and leaving the police station. If her parents were going to keep her in the dark she was going to figure it out for herself. She wasn’t a detective for nothing after all, she just might need a little help, thankfully she had gotten one dark scary girl’s number off of her cousin’s phone.


	6. Let it Reign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, let me know what you think. We writers need ego boosts, also I don't have a clear idea of what I'm actually doing with this.  
> Oh yeah, trigger warning for violence. Fighting, slight torture, etc.

            Alice made it to her father’s bar in a matter of minutes.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she quickly called Artemis who picked up on the first ring. “Hey, are you busy?” Alice inquires, crossing her fingers that Sky’s girlfriend was available. “I’m finishing up a translation for Sky, but other than that not really. I finished my caseload so I’m free, why? And why are you calling me instead of Sky? Did something happen?” Alice hesitates before answering, unsure of what Artemis’s temper might look like. “Well, Sky’s kind of been kidnapped;” Alice mutters. “What?” Artemis shouts through the line. Alice hears a long stream of cursing in another language, and the sound of a lot of activity. “Are you still in Purgatory?”

“Yeah, I’m at Shorty’s right now.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Artemis snarls, the sound of crashing pours through the phone. “How the hell are you going to make that long of a drive in 20 minutes?” Alice exclaims, the line goes dead.

On the edge of town, a black mist begins to gather. Swirling, the mist begins to take on the shape of a person.  Stepping forward, a studded black boot emerges followed by ripped red jeans, and the body of an enraged raven-haired girl with coal red eyes that appear as dark as the depths of hell. Taking a deep breath of air Artemis sees the special barrier immediately. The runes standing out, extending a hand she waits for the feeling of burning but none comes. The runes glow a deep purple briefly, but she passes through with little to no issue. Intrigued she mentally catalogues that for later and vanishes in another swirl of black mist. She had a girlfriend to find.

Wynonna was livid. Zephyr dared to break into her police station and kidnap her niece. She could only imagine that word had gotten back to Sky’s girlfriend by now. She would expect that the girl was worried sick not knowing what kind of creatures had Sky. Dolls was searching the town with Bass, Waverly and Nicole had gone to the Revenant camp, but Sky was nowhere to be found. They must have Sky tied up in some new hiding spot. Doc was tracking them from the police station while Marian and Martin had gone to stay with Reiner. Wynonna was currently attempting to find her daughter, who had wandered off. Wynonna walks down main street but stops when she sees the swirling of black smoke, slowly congregating to form a human body. Surprised, she hides behind a wall, watching as the body solidifies. The person is quite short, wearing high heeled boots red ripped jeans and a long black coat. A style like Zephyr’s. “Since when did you get death eater powers?” Wynonna murmurs aiming peacekeeper at the figure. As soon as she takes aim, the gun glows a deep purple instead of the usual orange. “What the?” Wynonna grimaces, shaking the gun. “Are you suddenly not working?” Wynonna looks up to keep track of her possible new enemy, but the figure is gone. Sighing, she makes a mental note to ask Bass or Waverly if they read anything about Peacekeeper turning purple before leaving her hiding spot in search of Alice once more.

Alice spotted Artemis upon entry, the girl seemed to create an aura of “Don’t F#ck with me,” causing the bar patrons to move out of her way instantly. “Hey, ready to start searching?” Alice says hopping off her bar stool. “I already started, her trail disappears about a block from here physically. She was dropping things, but there were specks of blood, so I can only assume they found out and hurt her. Pain I’ll return tenfold.” Artemis rattles off, she scans the bar before turning around. “Let’s go, there’s no point for us to be here right now, there’s no signs of her on any of the people.”

“Okay, why don’t we ask around. Y’know do some old-fashioned detective work?” Alice offers, hoping to prove herself to her mom. If she can find her cousin maybe her Mom will finally believe she’s grown up enough to know whatever the family’s been keeping from her. “I get that you want to be useful, but your old-fashioned detective work is just going to get in the way.” Artemis deadpans, turning to exit the bar. “Seriously?” Alice snaps, clearly annoyed. “We’re wasting time, come on.” Artemis sighs.

            Light peaked out between the cracks in the dusty windows. Dancing along the walls, forming intricate shapes, playing along the threads of spider webs. Skye could feel the venom coursing through her veins. The way it burned, sapping her energy. An average sized man with sunken eyes, stands off to the side. “You’ll be dead in two days;” he cackles more to himself than anyone else. “Once you’re dead I’ll be able to eat your insides. Liver, heart, intestines, all taste the bestest.”

“Bestest isn’t even a word,” Sky grumbles. She had a fever, the bite on her arm was throbbing and tingling. “The Spider will get you and save pieces for The Queen. The Queen will praise the Spider.” The man croons, creeping over towards Sky and playing with her hair. “The Spider will watch The Queen reign.”

“The Spider needs a breath mint,” Sky retorts wrinkling her nose at the scent of rotting flesh caught between the man’s teeth. A spike of pain sears across her cheek as The Spider backhands her across the face. “You’re a pawn, The Spider will use you to appease the Queen.”

“Why do you even need the Queen?” Sky asks, spitting blood off to the side. “The Queen is the bringer of the end;” The Spider hisses giving her a blood-soaked smile. “The Queen will save all her children.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The Queen is the leader of hell’s armies; her power can be harnessed to open the gates of hell and release the rest of our brethren.”

“If she’s the leader of it’s armies doesn’t that make her more of a general?” Sky points out, skeptical. “The Queen is the Queen by respect. She goes by many names. Angel of Death, The Destroyer, Abb- “

“Spider shut up! You’re giving too much away.” Another Revenant snaps. He has large chords of muscle stretching his tank top, his glowing red eyes adding to his imposing figure. “I guess we will have to kill you, now that you know. It’s a shame, you really do have a pretty face.”

“It’s not my face you should be worried about,” Sky retorts. “Why’s that?” The large revenant sneers. “Because this entire conversation has been recorded;” Sky smirks, her phone tucked behind her back. The revenants arrogant grin drops, “You’re gonna regret that blondie;” he says delivering a harsh right hook to the side of her face.

            Waverly was freaking out. They had torn the Revenant camp apart, threatening the lives of all revenants that reared their ugly mugs. “We’ll find her,” Nicole says reassuringly. They’re in Nicole’s cruiser, heading back to the Homestead. One hand is clasped in Waverly’s, Nicole’s warm brown eyes flickering between her wife and the road. “What if they kill her? It’ll be my fault for asking her to come back. She wanted to get away from all of this, but I dragged her back in. I could have had her drop a cure off, we could have figured out another way.” Waverly frets, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You didn’t know this would happen we were focusing on saving Reiner’s life. We couldn’t have known that they’d take her. We were all so focused on keeping Alice safe, we didn’t know that Zephyr was going to attack Sky, we didn’t even know she was on his radar;” Nicole reminds her wife, rubbing soothing circles into the back of Waverly’s hand. The sound of a phone buzzing breaks through Waverly’s despair, seeing Reiner’s name, she picks it up. “Hey sweetie,” she exclaims brushing the tears out of her eyes. “Hey Mom, Martin and Marian are saying that Sky’s missing and I’m not allowed to look for her.”

“That’s right, you took the antidote two days ago. I want you on bed rest.”

“But mom, shouldn’t the entire team rally?”

“Yes, the entire team, as in Nicole, Dolls, Doc, Wynonna, and I. The rest of you aren’t part of this.”

“That’s bullshit and we both know it Mom, Bass is helping;” Reiner grouses. Waverly sighs, “Bass is Wynonna and Doll’s son. I can’t make him do anything, but I already have one child missing. I’m not about to have the other one go missing as well, so you’re going to sit in that bed play Jenga with Martin and Marian and wait to hear back from us.”

“But Mom- “Reiner starts in. “No but’s mister. I said what I said and you’re going to listen. If Alice doesn’t have to be involved in this neither do you. I guarantee Alice is sitting back at one of our homes waiting to hear news, she’s a police officer, she’s probably doing the mature practical thing;” Waverly states with finality. She hears Reiner exhale in exasperation, “Fine, I’ll play nice, but please tell me when you find her.”

“Will do Rei Rei, love you.”

“Love you too mom.”

            Despite her Aunt’s words, Alice was not in fact waiting and doing the mature thing. In fact, she was currently breaking the law in five different ways. The first being, trespassing. “Are you sure she’s here?” Alice whispers, glancing around the abandoned butcher factory. Artemis ignores her in favor of walking up to a nearby locked door and ripping the handle off it. Two, vandalism. “How did you do that?” Alice hisses surprised at the short girl’s strength. “It must have been rusted,” Artemis replies. Alice shrugs, letting it slide. “Alright, just don’t get us caught.”

“Will do,” Artemis smirks, the first expression resembling a smile that Alice has seen all day. They creep around in the shadows, Artemis blending in so well Alice could swear that she becomes one, that is if that wasn’t insane. “How close is she?” Alice inquires, she can feel her detectives instinct playing up. “Close, or at least according to the GPS signal you pulled up from her phone call;” Artemis replies glancing down at her phone. “I really wish she had mentioned that her girlfriend was a badass sooner, I always thought you were a bit stuck up.”

“I know,” Artemis shrugs proceeding down another hallway. A plaque on the wall has an arrow labeled STORAGE. “What do you mean you know?” Alice says in surprise. Artemis doesn’t deign to reply, instead pressing on towards the door at the end of the corridor.

            Artemis opens the door slowly, the hinges creaking. The door opens onto a catwalk, rickety and rusting it hangs precariously from the rafters. “I don’t think this is a good idea, there’s no way this is going to hold our weight.” Alice murmurs. Artemis ignores her in favor of stepping out onto the catwalk and leaning over the railing. On the ground a good five meters away, Sky sits bound to a chair in chains bleeding. Artemis’s face changes so quickly Alice thinks she imagined it. There’s no way that her partner in crime had glowing red eyes and fangs, right? “I’m going to kill them,” Artemis growls. “Woah there, we’re just here to get her out. Killing is definitely illegal.” Alice warns her companion. “Don’t care,” Artemis says before jumping up onto the railing and balancing almost perfectly. “Promise not to scream?” The raven-haired girl says, her voice reverberating through Alice’s bones adding to her unease. “What do you mean? What’s going to make me – “Alice doesn’t get to finish her question, because she watches as Artemis leaps off the railing with so much force the catwalk shakes. Artemis clamps her jaw as she latches onto the nearest column. Her brown hair obscuring her vision as she clings to the support beam.

            Artemis soars through the air, landing on the ground as graceful as a cat. Sky is slumped unconscious in her chair, her phone cracked on the ground. She can feel her eyes begin to burn, darkness wafting offs her. Her breath comes in harsh gasps as her thoughts continue to race, the urge to tear apart whoever was responsible intoxicating. She begins to approach Sky but stops when she feels the presence of another. “An intruder I see,” a scrawny man chuckle. His eyes burn coal red just like hers do. “You’re a revenant?” She snarls, taking an aggressive step forward. “You aren’t?” The man scoffs, spitting on the ground he shifts into a fighting stance too. Artemis watches as the spit simmers and smokes. “Venom?” She remarks, her opponent grins revealing sharpened teeth stained with blood. “Of course,” She groans, allowing the burning behind her eyes to spread, “I guess I’ll make this fast.”

            The venomous man is easy, too slow to dodge, she grabs his face and begins to apply heat. Quickly burning his face off, she watches his face turn to ash before the rest of his body follows. One down, she senses another. Spinning around she stares up at the rafters where she sees a large man stalking towards a slowly descending Alice. “Just a couple more minutes darling,” She says over her shoulder before leaping into the air towards the other Revenant.

            Alice is going as fast as she can, she heard Artemis talking to someone but when the catwalk finally stopped shaking she saw Artemis dusting ash off her hands. Where she got a handful of ashes, she had no idea, but then again, this place was old. She found a ladder quick enough, but as soon as she got to it she saw a door open and a large man approaching. He didn’t seem friendly. Quickly clambering down the ladder, she keeps an eye on the large man with glowing red eyes. Wait, glowing red eyes? “You picked the wrong place to play Nancy Drew,” the man growls his red eyes adding to the menacing affect. “Maybe, you can be a good criminal put your hands behind your back and let me read you your rights?” Alice says hopefully. The sides of the man’s jaw clenches, grabbing the top of the ladder he begins to shake it. “Of course not,” Alice grumbles gritting her teeth in exertion as she hangs onto the shaking ladder with as much strength as she can muster. Just as quickly as the ladder started shaking, it stops. Alice glances upwards to see the strangest sight she’s seen in her life. Artemis is kissing the man’s neck. Wait, she’s not kissing his neck, she’s biting it? Alice watches as black veins begin to spread across the man’s body, his glowing red eyes dimming as Artemis’s hands glow brighter and brighter. The man’s clothes begin to smolder, smoke accumulating around Artemis shrouding her in darkness. Finally, the man’s body collapses in on itself, turning to ash. Artemis switches her gaze to Alice, her eyes now a melted gold in place of the burning coal of the now deceased man. She takes a step towards her, Alice jerks backwards on instinct her grip slipping she starts to fall, and everything fades to black.


	7. Just how F#cked are we?

**Chapter 7**

**Just how F#cked are we?**

            Wynonna arrived with Dolls and Doc at a local abandoned butchers shop.

            The cleared the building as quickly as possible, working as a effortlessly as a result of their experience together. Finally, they got to the large double doors of the factory’s warehouse. “Dolls, would you like to do the honors?” Wynonna offers, Dolls steps forward eyes glowing but is quickly interrupted by an irate Waverly. “Not so fast Dragonbreath. My daughter, my entrance;” Waverly quickly aims her shotgun and shoots breaking the padlock open and marching through the door Nicole right behind her. “When did she get here?” Wynonna says, startled. Doc and Dolls shrug but follow the tiny Earp into the warehouse.

            “Sky!” Waverly shouts upon seeing her daughter. Rushing over to the chair where the blonde girl is bound, Waverly searches the girl’s face for signs of life. Nicole kneels, placing two fingers on her pulse point. “She has a pulse, but it’s really weak;” She informs her wife, worry wrinkling her brow. “If only I had told her to stay in New York,” Waverly sobs frantically working on the ropes binding her daughter. “Wynonna!” Dolls can be heard from behind a stack of old boxes. Wynonna approaches where Dolls stands over an unconscious body. As she get’s closer she recognizes the faded leather jacket, and brown hair. It was Alice, she was directly under a ladder, where an arm dangled from the catwalk. “There’s someone up there,” she points out to Dolls. Doc rushes over towards them, eyes blazing with fury. “I swear I’m going to tear these revenants to pieces, damn them all. How did Alice even get here?”

“I guess she came here after she left that workers ID and letter on your car.” Wynonna sighs, looking around for any remaining revenants. Dolls drops down from the catwalk with a body on his shoulders, “It’s some girl.” Wynonna immediately recognizes the girl as Artemis, Sky’s girlfriend. “How’d she get here so quickly? Shouldn’t she only be about halfway here if she speeds?” Dolls says, curious. “With the fancy cars she had I wouldn’t be surprised if she went two hundred all the way here;” Wynonna replies. “We should take her with us, she probably just came to save her girlfriend. How they’re still alive I have no idea, the revenants must be losing their touch;” she exclaims attempting a joke. No one laughs. “Wynonna!” Nicole’s voice sounds from the afar. Wynonna jogs over to her sister in law whom is standing before a pile of ash. “Does that look like the outline of a person to you?” Nicole asks, trepidatious. “Yep,” Wynonna answers quickly. “Did you shoot anyone here as of late?” Nicole says turning to look at Wynonna. “Nope,” She replies with pursed lips. Muttering a string of, “Ew’s” Wynonna stoops down and scoops a handful of the ash into her jacket pocket. “I’m going to need this washed.”

“Yep,” Nicole confirms with a grimace, patting her back before returning to Waverly’s side. Sky’s fulling unbound now and unconscious in Waverly’s lap. “Let’s get them all to the hospital,” Dolls states grimly. Doc hoists Alice into his arms while Dolls grabs Artemis. Nicole and Waverly take both sides of Sky and carry their daughter out, Wynonna bringing up the rear.

            Elise was working the night shift at the hospital, 8 to 4. Not a shift she was looking forward to. She was expecting a long day of caring for elderly patients, and bemoaning her warm bed at home. What she wasn’t expecting was for the Earps to come storming in with another emergency case, and two other unconscious forms. “This is my daughter, she’s been bitten by something, Her veins are turning black, please help;” Waverly Earp says rapidly, her and her wife supporting the girl between them. Elise watches Doc Holliday hand an unconscious brunette over to a nearby nurse, setting her down gingerly on the offered stretcher. The other girl, this one with black hair and equally black eyes, wasn’t as unconscious as Elise originally thought and collapses into a nearby chair waving a nurse away. Elise rushes over to Waverly and Nicole Earp to assist with their daughter, Sky if Elise remembers correctly. “Do you know what she was bitten by?” Elise hears one of the nurses question Waverly and Nicole Earp. “No idea,” Nicole answers while Waverly holds back tears. “Check the logs, most likely it’s a toxin you’ve seen before, it can’t be new;” Waverly chokes out brushing the hair from her daughter’s sweat soaked forehead. The nurses begin to tend to their new patient in a whirlwind of activity. Elise passes so many syringes she loses track. “It’s working through her veins too quickly,” she hears one of her coworkers say. “Do we have another vial of that antidote that she gave her brother?”

“That worked miracles, he had the heart rate of an Olympian almost five minutes after he took it.”

“It sure was a miracle serum.”

            “Miracle serum, that’s what we need,” Wynonna informs her huddle of companions. They’re gathered around Sky’s sickbed as she fitfully dozes under the influence of the anesthetic that the doctors had prescribed her. “How do we get miracle serum when the one who made it is unconscious?” Reiner grumbles from his sister’s bedside. Artemis sits beside him asleep, one hand entwined with Sky’s. “Are you sure she’s asleep?” Doc remarks doubtfully. “Yeah, she’s out like a light;” Wynonna shrugs still contemplating how to cure the poison currently spreading through her niece’s veins. “Did she write down the formula?” Dolls proposes, the idea a strong possibility. “Jeremy is checking, but if she wrote it down it wasn’t on any piece of paper;” Nicole replies, her frown deepening. Waverly nuzzles closer into her arms, worry obvious on her features. “She has a photographic memory,” She murmurs, everyone groans. “So you’re saying she could have memorized it and the only way to get the antidote is to get into her mind;” Doc grits his teeth in frustration. “Yeah, pretty much;” Waverly’s voice is barely above a whisper at this point. “Or you could just read it off her phone,” a muffled voice says. Surprised everyone turns to look at the origin of the voice, “It’s on her phone?” Waverly and Wynonna exclaim simultaneously. “Yeah, she never leaves a formula in her head. Just in case, usually.”

“Where’s her phone?” Waverly asks impatient. Everyone starts to look around until Nicole pulls it out of her pocket and hands it to her wife. Waverly taps on the phone waiting for the screen to light up. “Might want to plug it in, her phone always dies too quickly;” Artemis grumbles from her spot beside Sky. Martin offers up a phone charger from his place near the door, Waverly gratefully takes it.

            While they await the phone, the group turns to Artemis. “How much, exactly, has dear Sky informed you on?” Doc voices the question everyone else was dying to ask. “I know that you all hunt something called revenants. I know Sky didn’t want me to come here, I know that she has toxin in her veins from one of those so called revenants, and I have a fair idea what can cure it.”

“So we don’t need to wait on the phone?” Waverly hints switching her glance between her daughter and her daughter’s girlfriend. “Probably not, but I’m not entirely sure so you should probably check beforehand.”

Waverly rolls her eyes in exasperation, but allows Wynonna to begin her own round of questioning. “Where were the revenants, I highly doubt that they just left you guys alive.”

“I took care of it,” Artemis shrugs. Wynonna and company raise their eyebrows in unison. “What do you mean you took care of it?” Dolls implores. “They’re dead, don’t worry. They won’t be coming back anytime soon.”

“Now listen here, if you know a way to kill these revenants without peacemaker, then I think we have a right to know;” Doc snaps. “Doc calm down, she’s a twenty something girl.” Wynonna interrupts Doc’s brewing rage, “But, yeah. What he said.”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” Artemis sighs, tired of the adults questioning . The sound of the phone buzzing to life interrupts Wynonna’s following remark, instead drawing their attention to the small device. “Shit, what’s her password;” Waverly laments, tapping on the phone’s screen persistently. “Ten, thirteen;” Artemis answers. Waverly types it in, the screen unlocks. “What’s the significance of that date?” Reiner chuckles. “It’s our anniversary,” Artemis exclaims a small smile appearing on her lips. “As adorable as that is, Waves do we have the recipe?” Wynonna says. “The formula, has only one thing listed;” Waverly mumbles in confusion. “Figures,” Artemis grumbles, letting go of Sky’s hand. “Everyone get out,” she orders. “What do you mean get out?” Nicole queries, barely containing annoyance. “If you want her to live, you’ll do as I say and leave.”

“Don’t you want her to live?” Reiner quips. Artemis sighs; “Yes I want her to live, but she’s gone through a lot to keep our secret and I don’t want to blow it;” Artemis explain in exasperation. “Whatever it is it’s okay, but we’re not leaving;” Waverly says adamantly. Artemis heaves a sigh but relents, she’s running out of time anyway. “Fine, but if I show you on Sky’s behalf I implore you not to kill me.” With one last sharp look at Wynonna, Artemis allows her eyes to switch into the burning red she’s been accustomed to for a long period of time now. “Shit, you’re a revenant;” Wynonna pronounces, hand itching to pick up Peacemaker. “Honestly, I don’t know. Sky was just sure you’d kill me.” Artemis replies, grabbing a scalpel lying on a nearby tray, she slits open her left wrist. “What in Satan’s mind are you doing girl?” Doc verbalizes, taking a step back. “Last time I checked, I was saving Sky;” Artemis scoffs, holding her wrist to Sky’s lips. “My blood has been the key ingredient to all her antidotes as of late. Everything that you guys have drank from her has been my blood for the past year now.”

“Including the antidote that I took?” Reiner coughs, fake gagging. “Gross,” Wynonna grimaces, she had drank one of Sky’s vials two months back. “Your blood has curative properties,” Waverly says more intrigued than disgusted. “Seems like it,” Dolls utters as Sky stirs to life. Grabbing Artemis’s wrist she starts to drink for herself, as opposed to letting it stream into her mouth. “Slow down there S,” Artemis chuckles gently prying her girlfriend’s fingers from her wrist. Sky releases her wrist with a slight pop, eyes opening to meet Artemis’s. “Welcome back,” Artemis smirks. She wipes the corner of Sky’s mouth, both of them practically beaming at each other. “Oh thank god,” Waverly cuts in running forward to hug her daughter. Nicole joins the hug with Reiner, the happy family relieved that everyone survived. Wynonna leaves, flashing a smile over her shoulder. She should check on her own daughter anyway.

            Alice was dreaming. She knew that much. A long corridor stretched before her as a voice whispered in her ear to open the door. The door it was attempting to gain entry to was set at the end of the hallway. The handle was in the middle of it, a large keyhole set into the handle outlined in gold. The door almost appeared to be floating. “All you need to do is open it. You or your mother,” the voice hissed it’s breath billowing across the back of her neck. “What do you want with my mother?”

“Just open the door,” The voice repeats before vanishing and leaving Alice alone in the dark corridor. Alice looks around, the corridor is almost pitch black, the only light being the light pouring through the door at the end of the corridor. “Just open the door right,” she mutters to herself. Proceeding down the hallway, she grasps the handle of the door firmly. “Don’t do it,” Someone says from behind her. Alice whirls around to see a boy with gold eyes and wearing what appears to be a simple black shirt and pants. He’s good looking, high cheekbones and jet black hair, the same olive skin tone as Artemis. In fact, the boy could almost be her brother. “Why not?” She inquires, feeling an overwhelming urge to ignore the boy’s instructions. “It’s not time yet,” The boy replies calmly. “The gates aren’t to be opened until my sister says they’re to be opened.”

“Where’s your sister?” Alice questions him. “Here and there,” he replies. “Here and there?” Alice repeats, unperturbed. “Yes, she is of this world and not. She’s been trapped for some time now, but she’ll be free soon.”

“That sounds ominous,” Alice mutters more to herself than the boy. “It can be, and it might not be. It depends on the will,” he shrugs once more, clearly unconcerned. “What’s stopping me from opening this door now?”

“She’s not at full strength yet,” the boy says darkly. “So are you going to stop me?”

“No, she is;” The boy smiles pointing. The dark corridor is flooded with light, and Alice feels herself ripped from her dream, her eyes flying open.

            Wynonna had entered her daughters’ room to hear her talking some strange language in her sleep. Confused, Wynonna waits for her daughter to wake up before commenting, she didn’t know that Alice was taking any foreign language classes. It didn’t take long for Alice to wake up considering her eyes sprung open as soon as Wynonna got within a foot of her bed. “Mom?” Alice exclaims from her bed, chest rising and falling rapidly as a result of her dream. “Hey kiddo, I was just y’know, checking on you;” Wynonna explains awkwardly punching Alice’s arm. “Weird dreams?” Alice scowls, “It’s not important.”

“Of course it is,” Wynonna says attempting to accomplish some form of bonding with her daughter. “What was it about, if there’s anything I understand it’s strange dreams.”

“It’s not important Mom,” Alice groans annoyed with her mother’s insistence. “How’s Sky?”

“Good, she’s up now;” Wynonna replies, allowing her daughter to change the subject. “She is?” Alice jumps up, feet hitting the ground. “Yeah, I guess you want to go and see her.” Alice nods.

“Well, she’s just across the hall if you want;” Wynonna points towards the door. “Okay cool,” Alice begins lacing up her boots. “Yeah, well I guess I’ll go back there now. Tell the others you’re up;” Wynonna says awkwardly. Alice stops lacing her boots, eyes focused on the ground. “Yeah, um, thanks Mom.”

“Thanks? For what?” Wynonna says confused. “You know, coming and getting us out of there. I had this weird dream that Artemis did it, but that doesn’t really make sense. No one has glowing gold eyes, so it must have been you and I must have a concussion.”

“Gold?” Wynonna remarks before remembering that her daughter was thanking her, “No problem Alice, I know I haven’t been there for you as much as you’d like but if there’s ever something bothering you, you know I’m here, right?” Alice hesitates before nodding, she continues to stand there awkwardly until her mom realizes that that’s it and shuffles out equally as awkward. They had a long way to go before singing kumbaya together. Alice follows her out.

           


	8. The answer is: very.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I found the flash drive. The monster under my bed had it. Hope you enjoy the new addition, I've been writing other stuff too so I continue to promise nothing in terms of timely updates.

**Chapter 8**

**The answer is: very**

            Alice felt awkward.

Not only had her mom attempted to have a heartfelt conversation with her, but she liked it? It was nice that her mother was actually showing effort, it had taken her long enough, but it was hard to shift into the mindset of her mom being there for her when she hadn’t been for most of Alice’s twenty-six years. Discounting the occasional birthday or holiday, Wynonna was absent from most significant events and calls for advice. At the end of the day, it was Aunt Gus that went to the parent teacher conferences, fed her, and tucked her into bed. It was Aunt Gus who she made mothers’ day breakfast for, or taught her how to ride a bike. It wasn’t until she was five that her dad came along and told her about Wynonna. Alice grimaces at the memory of Doc trying to be a Dad for the first time. It was one of the most embarrassing moments in her life, and she went through puberty.

            Alice enters Sky’s room to see her cousin wrapped up in not only her Aunt’s arms but Reiner’s too. Confused, she pauses for a second before speaking. “Um, hi?” She waves awkwardly from the doorway, her mother sliding past her to stand between her Dad and Dolls. “You’re awake,” Reiner grins untangling himself from the mass of limbs. Artemis stands off to the side leaning calmly against the wall, everyone appears to be giving her a wide berth. “Yeah, just woke up, thought I should check on Sky considering she was kidnapped and all.”

“Good call,” Reiner chuckles, his eyes catching the light strangely. “So how long are you guys going to be in Purgatory?” He inquires. “We’re leaving as soon as Sky’s able,” Artemis grunts from her place against the wall. “Yeah, no can do.” Wynonna winces, remembering the blockade Zephyr has the town under. “Why not?” Artemis challenges, one eyebrow raised. “Our big bad has the town locked down,” Wynonna explains awkwardly. Artemis groans, “I got in here fine.”

“Babe, I think we should stay.” Sky’s voice sounds from between her parents. Artemis turns to look at her girlfriend, whom extricates herself from Aunt Waverly and Nicole’s grasp. “With what’s happening, and who they’re facing I want to stay and help.” Artemis looks surprised but doesn’t argue, instead shrugging. “Alright, whatever you want. I’m staying here to keep an eye on you though.”

“I did say we,” Sky points out, tone almost teasing. Their eyes meet each other’s, gaze unrelenting. “Okay, while they have their moment, Bass why don’t you take Alice to the Homestead to go to sleep. I’m sure she must be tired;” Dolls proposes. Bass nods in agreement and steps forward towards Alice. “You’ve gotta be kidding me, I don’t need an escort,” she complains scanning the room for anyone willing to back her up. Reiner gives her a smile of sympathy, but other than that no one does anything. Alice sighs. “Actually,” Wynonna begins causing Alice’s heartrate to pick up. Was her mother finally going to let her in on what was going on? “Bass should stay, we might need whatever information her knows. We can send the twins with her, I know they must be tired.”

Artemis groans, of course they keep Bass. Reiner pops out to fetch the twins for Alice, while Wynonna, Dolls, and her Dad have a silent discussion. Alice watches her father’s eyes flicker between her and her mom a lot. A silent question. Wynonna shakes her head subtly, brow furrowed. Alice rolls her eyes. She get’s the gist.

            The twins quickly arrive and take Alice home, offering to stay with her until the cavalry arrives. Wynonna takes them up on their offer much to Alice’s protestation, and watches as they walk her daughter out of the hospital. “Okay, time to get down to business;” Wynonna says turning to face Sky. She watches as Artemis trudges over, Sky moving over slightly to make room as Waverly and Nicole get up and move to the padded chair beside the bed. “I know you just went through a lot, but if you know anything we need to hear it.” Artemis wraps an arm around Sky’s shoulders allowing Sky to play with her fingers. They said something about a queen,” Sky murmurs.

“A queen?” Bass repeats, interest piqued. “Yeah, the Spider said something about opening the gates of hell using the queen and releasing their brethren back into the world.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Reiner says hesitantly. “Not good at all, what else did you find out?” Dolls inquires. “Not much other than their queen has been called the Angel of Death, and the Destroyer;” Sky says clearly fatigued. “I think I’ve heard that before;” Bass exclaims. Frantically searching, he pulls the small leather-bound book out of a messenger bag in the corner. Rifling through its pages he skims the many annotations of translated words that Artemis had sent him. Sticky notes fly everywhere as he flips through. “It’s this page I think,” he hands the book off to Artemis who begins to read. “She the leader of the dead and damned, along with her lieutenants will raise hell to bring the Godly world into Satan’s grasp. The Destroyer shall reign supreme, only subordinate to Lucifer himself. Those that oppose her shall have their blood feasted upon and flesh burned then tossed asunder. Praise the queen, bringer of the end.”

“Well that’s, fun.” Nicole states eyes wide. “Does anyone else want to maybe take a trip to Aruba?” Reiner quips, attempting to relieve the tension. “Okay, so they need the queen. That’s easy, that means we just have to kill the queen, right?” Wynonna says hopefully. “Is peacekeeper strong enough to kill the queen of hell?” Doc notes, skeptical of the guns power in the face of that big of an opponent. “It sounds like she’d be stronger than Sheriff Clootie, and we all know how hard he was to kill;” Waverly adds to the debate. “Is there anything else in there about the queen?” Bass asks Artemis. She begins to flip through the pages, brow scrunched in concentration. Sky nuzzles into her neck as she scans the journal. “Here,” Artemis points to the last page, “Zephyr did it, he began the summoning, she has risen. I have a solution though, I’m- “Artemis pauses. Flipping through the journal in a spray of sticky notes she remains silent before her eyes flicker upwards to meet that of her girlfriend’s family. “It stops there.”

“What,” Waverly says sharply taking the offered book from Artemis. Flipping through, she studies each intricate rune, having picked up the language from Artemis’s translations, and groans. She was right, the journal ended there. They begin to pass the book about, each of them looking for the continuation. Doc begins to help Bass pick up the sticky notes, hoping that maybe a page had fallen out. Finally, Reiner is the one to spot a clue; “Hey guys, there are two I’s on the back of the book. Maybe they’re initials.” Waverly instantly whips the book out of her son’s hands apologizing briefly before refocusing on the journal. Indeed, on the back of the book, carved into the leather were two I’s. “They’re not initials, they’re roman numerals.” Waverly notes aloud, “This book is a second part to a series. All we have to do is find the next book.”

“So, there’s a chance we can stop this evil thing from rising?” Wynonna says optimistically. “Or re-rising,” Bass corrects his mother. “Whatever it was had to be really big if it stopped the gates of hell from opening and the end of the world;” Dolls states, reminding the group of how precarious their situation was. “While all of this is really interesting, what does this have to do with me?” Sky says, reminding them of her previous abduction. “Maybe they think you know something on how to set the Queen free,” Reiner offers as explanation. “Or maybe it was a mistake, maybe it wasn’t really you he was after;” Nicole proposes. “That doesn’t make sense, why would they come for her in the first place?” Wynonna points out. “Maybe he was after your Revenant girlfriend,” Reiner jokes nudging Artemis’s side. Wynonna and crew freeze, all coming to the same realization. “That’s it, Artemis is the key;” Dolls exclaims focusing on Artemis’s incredulous face. “You think I’m going to help some guy I haven’t even met open the gates to hell?” Artemis sneers, unimpressed. “You’re a Revenant, and from my experience all of you are pretty selfish,” Wynonna says hand edging towards peacemaker. “You’re lying, I guarantee you’ve met a decent revenant or two;” Sky defends her girlfriend. Wynonna winces, “Yeah, okay you have a point, but if your girlfriend is the key to opening the gates of hell then you know what I have to do.”

“Aunt Wynonna, no! I don’t even know if she really is a revenant;” Sky argues leaning forward to stay within her Aunt’s prospective shot. “What is she then?” Reiner inquires, legitimately curious. “Vampire? Fallen angel? I don’t know, but she can’t be a revenant if she lived outside the boundary line, right?”

“She has a fair point,” Doc says giving Wynonna a well-meaning glance. “Fine, I won’t kill her. She did save Sky’s life, but we should test it to see if she is a revenant.”

“How do we do that?” Nicole queries. Waverly automatically springs forward with a smile, “Oh, we can see if she can still cross the boundary line. If she can, she’s not a revenant, if she can’t she is.”

“And if you are I’ll have to shoot you,” Wynonna grimaces, “Sorry.” Artemis rolls her eyes in reply, Sky’s arms tightening around her. “Sounds fun, can’t wait;” Artemis sighs resigned to her fate. “Not fun, and not okay. She saved my life, Mom talk sense into Aunt Wynonna;” Sky fumes her grip ever tightening on her girlfriend. “I’m sorry Sky, but we need to figure out whether or not she’s a revenant before we can decide on a better course of action;’ Waverly cringes, already regretting the choices that lay before them. “It’s decided then, we test Artemis’s humanity tomorrow then;” Wynonna affirms.

          


End file.
